This invention relates to tapered roller bearings of improved construction with respect to the guidance of the cages in the bearing.
There are known, for example, massive cages for tapered roller bearings, consisting of two parts, a collar part and a cage cover, which are connected, for instance, by rivet joints. Furthermore, there exist integral massive cages for tapered roller bearings, which are guided on the flanges of the inner ring. There are also known integral massive cages for tapered roller bearings, which are guided only on the roller guide flange and are used as open collar cage as well as flange-guided or roller-guided sheet-metal cages, which are predominantly, however not exclusively, made in one piece. The mentioned cage constructions are suitable only for use in normal cases of practical operation, however, they do not meet the steadily increasing requirements for attaining high rotational speeds, particularly in the machine-tool industry, because the internal centering of the cages quickly causes an increase of the cage play which is the cause of premature bearing failure. Furthermore, internal guidance requires an additional machining, for example, of the guide flange surfaces. This results in increased production costs and higher costs of the means of production.
The object of the invention is to eliminate the deficiencies of the known cage embodiments and thus attain improved operating characteristics of the tapered roller bearings, for example, higher upper limits of rate of revolutions.
The technical object, which is solved by the invention, consists in providing cages for tapered roller bearings which, in contrast to the known configurations with internal flange guidance, have an improved guidance quality without therefore requiring additional auxiliary means.